Thursday, February 6, 2014

American space agency NASA in collaboration with non-profit Saylor Foundation is offering a new massive open online course or MOOC on “Space Systems Engineering” starting March 3, 2014. The six-week, general-audience course is available to the public at no cost and provides a unique opportunity to learn from and alongside NASA's engineers. Students who participate will also earn a free certificate.

The course on Space Systems Engineering will examine basic systems engineering and teamwork as well as project life cycle, scoping, requirements, and trade studies. Video lectures from personnel supporting the James Webb Space Telescope and the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite missions at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., form the backbone of the lessons.

Students can enroll prior to March at the course registration page and may also join the course at any point thereafter. Each week, registered students will receive an email detailing their assignments, questions for discussion, and opportunities to interact with one another and course designers, including NASA staff, through discussion forums and live Google Hangouts.

Students who successfully complete the course (by passing a final exam) will receive a free certificate of completion. There will also be an optional project, and the winners of the project competition will be awarded a tour of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., as well as a Google+ Hangout with the instructors of the course.

The materials to this course will all be in the public domain and will remain on the Saylor Foundation's website indefinitely. Regardless of when they join the course, registered students will be able to revisit the materials whenever they wish to study.

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